President Bush flies over New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina – Getty Images

President Obama has called the influx of unaccompanied minors on the southwest border an “urgent humanitarian situation.” But his visit to Texas this week will not include a stop in the Rio Grande Valley, unless it’s a surprise visit.

Instead, he will do some political fundraisers in Dallas and Austin, where he will also deliver some remarks about the economy and meet some Texans who have written him letters.

Not surprisingly, there has been talk.

“I think the problem speaks for itself when the president, who would prefer to hang out with campaign donors and other political supporters, would decide not to have any interaction with those that are directly affected by his failed policies,” said Texas Republican John Cornyn, speaking Monday on the floor of the U.S. Senate.

Cornyn added that Obama needs a “wake-up call” about the border crisis.

But if some locals think Obama’s Texas trip has all the regrettable optics of President George W. Bush’s flight over New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina, the White House doesn’t seem to be concerned.

Asked to respond to Cornyn’s lament, a White House spokesman referred the Houston Chronicle to press secretary Josh Earnest’s remarks from last week’s press briefing.

Earnest chronicled a parade of top administration officials who have made recent trips to the border, including Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson, top White House policy advisors, and an array of officials from FEMA, the Border Patrol, and even the Coast Guard.

“Senior administration officials have spent a lot of time on the border,” said Earnest, a former Houston political operative. “Because the president and other members of his senior team are concerned both about what’s happening there but also making sure that they have a very clear up-to-date assessment of what exactly is happening on a regular basis there and how the additional resources that have been devoted to that region are dealing with this surge and illegal migration that we’ve seen.”

The Bush White House also defended his trip not to land in Louisiana immediately after the storm. Others were on the ground. (Remember “Brownie?”) It wasn’t until five years later, with the release of a post-presidential memoir that Bush called the decision a “huge mistake.”